[The following is the 32nd of a series of articles to present to the benefits of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Krsna CDROM and the Srimad-Bhagavatam CDROM from Krishnasoft present this great spiritual masterpiece in multimedia format.]

In our September 1999 newsletter, we pointed out that Lord Krsna is satisfied by our loving devotional service and not by our material opulence:

"The almighty God is thus conquered only by loving service and nothing else." (Bhag. 1.8.45)

"My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling." (Bhag. 1.8.26)

"It is said in the sastras that by once uttering the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit. Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually, the Lord's holy name has such powerful potency. But there is a QUALITY to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere." (Bhag. 1.8.26)

We acquire qualities according to our association. If we associate with material people and things, we will be gradually infected with those qualities. If we associate with pure devotees or things dovetailed in pure devotional service, we will be purified of material qualities. As explained in our December 2000 newsletter, things earnestly dovetailed with the Supreme Lord attain the same transcendental quality as the Supreme Lord. In his previous life, Narada Muni was also awakened to Krsna consciousness by association with pure devotees:

"Pure devotion is as much infectious, in a good sense, as infectious diseases. A pure devotee is cleared from all kinds of sins. The Personality of Godhead is the purest entity, and unless one is equally pure from the infection of material qualities, one cannot become a pure devotee of the Lord. The bhakti-vedantas as above mentioned were pure devotees, and the boy became infected with their qualities of purity by their association and by eating once the remnants of the foodstuff taken by them. Such remnants may be taken even without permission of the pure devotees. There are sometimes pseudodevotees, and one should be very much cautious about them. There are many things which hinder one from entering devotional service. But by the association of pure devotees all these obstacles are removed. The neophyte devotee becomes practically enriched with the transcendental qualities of the pure devotee, which means attraction for the Personality of Godhead's name, fame, quality, pastimes, etc. Infection of the qualities of the pure devotee means to imbibe the taste of pure devotion always in the transcendental activities of the Personality of Godhead. This transcendental taste at once makes all material things distasteful. Therefore a pure devotee is not at all attracted by material activities. After the elimination of all sins or obstacles on the path of devotional service, one can become attracted, one can have steadiness, one can have perfect taste, one can have transcendental emotions, and at last one can be situated on the plane of loving service of the Lord. All these stages develop by the association of pure devotees, and that is the purport of this stanza." (Bhag. 1.5.25)

Even holy places are places that have been spiritualized by being dovetailed in Lord Krsna's service by the actions of pure devotees:

"My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage." (Bhag. 1.3.10)

Just like pure devotees can purify places, food, materially contaminated people, etc. similarly, by our association with people and things that are purely dovetailed in Krsna consciousness we also can gradually become pure in consciousness and be a force in uncontaminating the places that we go to, people that we meet, food that we eat, activities that we perform, etc.:

"The Vedas (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12) give the direction tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet: in order to reach the perfection of life or to understand the real constitutional position of the living entity, one must approach the spiritual master. Gurum evabhigacchet-- one must; it is not optional. It is imperative that one approach the spiritual master, for by such association one proportionately develops his consciousness toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The highest perfection of such consciousness is called Krsna consciousness. According to the body given by prakrti, or nature, one's consciousness is present; according to the development of consciousness, one's activities are performed; and ACCORDING TO THE PURITY OF SUCH ACTIVITIES, one realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone's heart. The example given herein is very appropriate. Fire is always the same, but according to the size of the fuel or burning wood, the fire appears to be straight, curved, small, big, etc." (Bhag. 4.21.35)

The holy name of the Lord-- Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare-- is coming down through the chain of disciplic succession of pure devotees and is the main means of purification in this Age of Kali. And as we explained in our December 2000 newsletter, reading Srila Prabhupada's books is also chanting:

"THE REASON IS THAT THE SUPREME LORD IS ABSOLUTE TRUTH, AND ANYTHING EARNESTLY DOVETAILED WITH THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH ATTAINS THE SAME TRANSCENDENTAL QUALITY. " (Bhag. 2.6.34)

"There are two important krsna-kathas current in the world-- Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhagavad-gita is krsna-katha because it is spoken by Krsna, whereas Srimad-Bhagavatam is krsna-katha because it narrates about Krsna. Lord Caitanya advised all His disciples to preach krsna-katha all over the world without discrimination because the transcendental value of krsna-katha can purify one and all from material contamination." (Bhag. 3.5.10)

Therefore, by reading Srila Prabhupada's books, hearing from him, and/or by chanting the holy name, one is gradually being purified from material contamination. And as explained in our June 2001 newsletter, this purification takes place even if we initially find it hard to understand the intricacies of the philosophy. As Srila Prabhupada himself stated, "there is no need to understand the language of the mantra nor is there any need of mental speculation."

[The following is part II of the article on "The Forest of Material Enjoyment" started in the June 2001 newsletter.]

"In this materialistic life, there are many difficulties, as I have just mentioned, and all of these are insurmountable. In addition, there are difficulties arising from so-called happiness, distress, attachment, hate, fear, false prestige, illusion, madness, lamentation, bewilderment, greed, envy, enmity, insult, hunger, thirst, tribulation, disease, birth, old age and death. All these combine together to give the materialistic conditioned soul nothing but misery." (Bhag. 5.14.27)

"One may ask whether scientists, philosophers, economists and mathematicians are also naradhamas, the lowest of men, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead replies that they are because they have no actual knowledge. They are simply proud of their false prestige and position. Actually they do not know how to get relief from the material condition and renovate their spiritual life of transcendental bliss and knowledge. Consequently they waste time and energy in the search for so-called happiness." (Bhag. 5.14.27)

We can see examples of how many people who broadcast or play sports, TV trivia games, etc. are portrayed as important people because they "know" a lot. However, most of their so-called "facts and figures" for which they spent most of their lives learning become nothing but forgotten myths as newer theories replace older ones. Knowledge cannot change over time because it is suppose to explain things AS THEY ARE:

"The descriptions of the Bhagavatam are so precise and accurate that whatever has been predicted in this great literature about five thousand years ago is now exactly happening." (Bhag. 1.5.13)

"The personal weapon used by Lord Krsna, the disc, is called hari-cakra, the disc of Hari. This cakra is the wheel of time. It expands from the beginning of the atoms up to the time of Brahma's death, and it controls all activities. It is always revolving and spending the lives of the living entities, from Lord Brahma down to an insignificant blade of grass. Thus one changes from infancy, to childhood, to youth and maturity, and thus one approaches the end of life. It is impossible to check this wheel of time. This wheel is very exacting because it is the personal weapon of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes the conditioned soul, fearing the approach of death, wants to worship someone who can save him from imminent danger. Yet he does not care for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose weapon is the indefatigable time factor. The conditioned soul instead takes shelter of a man-made god described in unauthorized scriptures. Such gods are like buzzards, vultures, herons and crows. Vedic scriptures do not refer to them. Imminent death is like the attack of a lion, and neither vultures, buzzards, crows nor herons can save one from such an attack. One who takes shelter of unauthorized man-made gods cannot be saved from the clutches of death." (Bhag. 5.4.29)

"It is stated: harim vina mrtim na taranti. No one can save himself from the cruel hands of death without being favored by Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita it is stated, mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te: whoever fully surrenders unto Krsna can be saved from the cruel hands of material nature. The conditioned soul, however, sometimes wants to take shelter of a demigod, man-made god, pseudo incarnation or bogus svami or yogi. All these cheaters claim to follow religious principles, and all this has become very popular in this age of Kali. There are many pasandis who, without referring to the sastras, pose themselves as incarnations, and foolish people follow them." (Bhag. 5.4.29)

Sometimes people think not everyone should become a devotee immediately because we need doctors, psychologists, philosophers, etc. to make the society run. However, all these people are useless in saving a person from any danger especially death. They themselves are dependent on the sanction of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna to be successful in practicing their fields. And the reason people need the help of these people is because of the reactions to their sinful activities which can be vanquished by surrendering to Lord Krsna.

"Materialistic people are sometimes called sudras, or descendants of monkeys, due to their monkeylike intelligence." (Bhag. 5.14.31)

"In this way the descendants of the monkeys intermingle with each other, and they are generally known as sudras. Without hesitating, they live and move freely, not knowing the goal of life. They are captivated simply by seeing the faces of one another, which remind them of sense gratification. They are always engaged in material activities, known as gramya-karma, and they work hard for material benefit. Thus they forget completely that one day their small life spans will be finished and they will be degraded in the evolutionary cycle." (Bhag. 10.14.31)

"The conditioned soul suffers many miserable bodily conditions, such as being affected by severe cold and strong winds. He also suffers due to the activities of other living beings and due to natural disturbances. When he is unable to counteract them and has to remain in a miserable condition, he naturally becomes very morose because he wants to enjoy material facilities." (Bhag. 5.14.34)

"Sometimes conditioned souls exchange money, but in due course of time, enmity arises because of cheating. Although there may be a tiny profit, the conditioned souls cease to be friends and become enemies." (Bhag. 5.14.35)

"Although people may be enemies, in order to fulfill their desires again and again, they sometimes get married. Unfortunately, these marriages do not last very long, and the people involved are separated again by divorce or other means." (Bhag. 5.14.37)

[A quick glimpse of Chapter 14 of the Fifth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam is one of the things that initially interested the author of this newsletter to start reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam; so we hope it inspires others as well.]

Krishna Software Inc. is dedicated to help people become peaceful and happy via spiritual science presented using modern multimedia technology. Our editorial policy as well as our mission is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.2.37 Purport):

"One should engage in practical service to the Lord. In our Krsna consciousness movement, *ALL* our activities are concentrated upon distributing Krsna literature. This is very important. One may approach any person and induce him to read Krsna literature so that in the future he also may become a devotee.... By fully concentrating on distributing books for Krsna, one is fully absorbed in Krsna."

Our newsletters are geared to show you the benefits of the instructions contained in the transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada so you can judge for yourself the value of these books and obtain them in book or CDROM format. We also have video demos of the Gita CDROM and Bhagavatam CDROM available for those without computers or those who want to get a glimpse into what is on the CDROM.

Krishna Software Inc. has produced some multimedia CDROMs and all the details and reviews of these CDROMs can be found at our website http://www.krishnasoft.com. Here is our current list of products:

(a) Multimedia Bhagavad-gita As It Is CD: Lord Krsna's eternal instructions to Arjuna and the rest of the world about Isvara (Supreme Lord), jiva (the soul), karma (activities), kala (time), and prakrti (nature). This is a 30-hour audio-visual CDROM. Also available with Hindi translations.

(b) Multimedia Srimad-Bhagavatam CD: An encyclopedia on the science of Krsna consciousness. This CDROM deals in detail with bhakti-yoga and covers various subjects-- the creation of the universe, Vedic astronomy, transmigration, birth-death, etc. This is about 35 hours of audio-visual presentations.

(c) Multimedia Krsna CD w/Vedic Astronomy: This is a 51-hour audio-visual presentation of the Krsna book and a Vedic Astronomy simulation based on the Srimad-Bhagavatam. All on a single CDROM. Free sample demo downloadable from our website.

(d) Multilingual Word Processor CD [version 4.00]: Type in diacritics, Hindi, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Assamese without knowing the alphabet. This is for those who want to write articles using multiple languages. Free demo downloadable from our website.

All of the above software was tested on various Intel 486 and Pentium processors running Windows 3.1, Windows '95, Windows '98, Windows Me, and Windows NT (client and server).

Latest information and secure ordering is available at our web site: http://www.krishnasoft.com. Any upgrades can be downloaded from this website as well.

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